Sometimes, when we're wondering why a certain player is being "slow played" it is about academics rather than being about athletics. Actually, this is often the case.
NCAA requires 16 core units with 10 of them completed before the start of the 7th semester (end of junior year). Then, the athlete has to have a "corresponding test score" on the ACT or SAT that is a sliding scale. The lower the GPA in these core courses, the higher the test score needs to be. Often, CU will need to wait to see how a prospect does in his spring semester or even summer school between junior & senior years before offering. Also, even with that, CU will not bring someone to campus for an official visit until he has also gotten his corresponding test score.
Because of this requirement, official written offers can't go out until the start of that 7th semester (senior year). Also, many of the guys who have early offers are guys with great academics. For example, CU verbally offered Andrew Gentry of Columbine this week despite him being a sophomore. A big reason for that early offer is that he has a 4.4 GPA and there are no concerns about him being able to be admitted based on what he has already accomplished in the classroom.
Beyond all that with the minimums, a school often has its own minimums that may be higher than the NCAA Clearinghouse minimum. This has a huge impact on why some players end up getting offers or being recruited by one school and not by CU. We rarely know about this because prospects don't generally make their transcript info public.
Here's what that minimum core from the NCAA Clearninghouse looks like compared to what the minimum is at each Pac-12 school (of note, some of the schools have additional "Recommended" but not "Required", which allows some flexibility on admissions):
[TBODY]
[/TBODY]Whatever the core requirement at a school may be, the prospective student-athlete must meet the NCAA Clearinghouse minimum.
But what this reveals is that Colorado is the second toughest Pac-12 school to recruit to on academics after Stanford. And there's less flexibility at CU than at some other peers that have elective academic requirements instead of all credits being specific to core areas.
I don't think that the academic requirements at CU being so high relative to some Pac-12 peers (generally great schools with great reputations) is a thing most people are aware of.
http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/eligibility_center/Quick_Reference_Sheet.pdf
https://www.collegedata.com/
NCAA requires 16 core units with 10 of them completed before the start of the 7th semester (end of junior year). Then, the athlete has to have a "corresponding test score" on the ACT or SAT that is a sliding scale. The lower the GPA in these core courses, the higher the test score needs to be. Often, CU will need to wait to see how a prospect does in his spring semester or even summer school between junior & senior years before offering. Also, even with that, CU will not bring someone to campus for an official visit until he has also gotten his corresponding test score.
Because of this requirement, official written offers can't go out until the start of that 7th semester (senior year). Also, many of the guys who have early offers are guys with great academics. For example, CU verbally offered Andrew Gentry of Columbine this week despite him being a sophomore. A big reason for that early offer is that he has a 4.4 GPA and there are no concerns about him being able to be admitted based on what he has already accomplished in the classroom.
Beyond all that with the minimums, a school often has its own minimums that may be higher than the NCAA Clearinghouse minimum. This has a huge impact on why some players end up getting offers or being recruited by one school and not by CU. We rarely know about this because prospects don't generally make their transcript info public.
Here's what that minimum core from the NCAA Clearninghouse looks like compared to what the minimum is at each Pac-12 school (of note, some of the schools have additional "Recommended" but not "Required", which allows some flexibility on admissions):
| Institution | English | Math | Science | Social Science | Additional Eng/Mth/Sci | Additional Any of Previous or Foreign Language or Philosophy/Religion | TOTAL |
| NCAA | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 16 |
| Arizona | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | n/a | 2 (foreign language) | 14 |
| Arizona State | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | n/a | 2 (foreign language), 1 (history) | 15 |
| Cal | 4 | 4 | 3 | n/a | n/a | 2 (foreign language), 2 (history), 1 (elective core) | 16 |
| Colorado | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | n/a | 3 (foreign language) | 17 |
| Oregon | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | n/a | 2 (foreign language) | 15 |
| Oregon State | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | n/a | 2 (foreign language) | 15 |
| Stanford | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | n/a | 3 (foreign language), 3 (history) | 20 |
| UCLA | 4 | 3 | 2 | n/a | n/a | 2 (foreign language), 2 (history), 1 (elective core) | 16 |
| USC | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | n/a | 2 (foreign language), 3 (elective core) | 16 |
| Utah | 4 | 2 | 3 | n/a | n/a | 2 (foreign language), 1 (history), 4 (elective core) | 16 |
| Washington | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | n/a | 2 (foreign language), 1 (elective core) | 15 |
| Washington State | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | n/a | 2 (foreign language) | 14 |
But what this reveals is that Colorado is the second toughest Pac-12 school to recruit to on academics after Stanford. And there's less flexibility at CU than at some other peers that have elective academic requirements instead of all credits being specific to core areas.
I don't think that the academic requirements at CU being so high relative to some Pac-12 peers (generally great schools with great reputations) is a thing most people are aware of.
http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/eligibility_center/Quick_Reference_Sheet.pdf
https://www.collegedata.com/
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